Anubis | Egyptian God of Death: Anubis is the Egyptian deity of mummification, the afterlife, and he also serves as the helper and the protector of lost souls.
He is portrayed as a black dog, a jackal-dog cross with sharp ears, or as a strong man with a jackal’s skull. Not because Egyptian canines or jackals were black, but rather because of its meaning, black was chosen as the hue.
Black represented both the rotting of the corpse and the lush soil of the Nile River Valley, which stood for renewal and vitality. Therefore, the strong black dog served as the guardian of the dead
The Egyptian god Anpu (or Input), whose name means “to decay,” was given the Greek name Anubis, which indicates his early connection to death.
Anubis played a crucial role in every aspect of a person’s death experience as a protector and even remained with the soul beyond death as a fair judge and a mentor.
A good illustration of the god’s continued relevance long after his incorporation into the cult of Osiris is the chapel of Anubis in the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri, which may have given continuation to an earlier shrine of the god there.
Anubis became the patron god of embalmers because it was claimed that he prepared Osiris’ mummy. In the Memphite Necropolis, an area connected to embalmers appears to have developed into a focal point for the cult of Anubis
Anubis determined the destiny of souls by measuring the heart of a departed person against Maat or “truth,” who was sometimes depicted as an ostrich feather.